Scientists appear to have solved a mystery that has lasted more than 400 years by identifying the skeleton of Nicolaus Copernicus, founder of modern astronomy.

The key to the puzzle were two strands of hair found in Sweden among the 16th-century scientist's papers, and a tooth and femur bone that were taken from the remains of a man found in the chancel of Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland four years ago.

Copernicus was a priest at the cathedral. Reconstruction of the skull found in an unmarked grave showed it resembled portraits of him made during his lifetime and also matched the age when he died.

DNA testing proved the hairs, tooth and bone were from the same person, leading scientists to conclude the remains were, almost without doubt, those of Copernicus.

Copernicus turned on its head the concept held by the establishment for more than 1,000 years that the sun orbited the earth and planets, proving it was the other way round. His theories led to conflicts with the powers of the day that remained unresolved when he died in seclusion in 1543.

Archaeologists dug up the skeleton in 2004 and sent it to forensic experts who reconstructed its facial features. But attempts to match DNA from the skeleton with the remains of Copernicus's bishop uncle Lukas Watzenrode, who was also buried in the church, failed.

The breakthrough came after the discovery of a book with notes made by Copernicus, in which the Swedish geneticist Marie Allen from Uppsala University found two hairs. She was able to isolate the cells that were subsequently matched to genes of the Frombork skeleton.